As we contemplate this problem of sin it is most sobering. We shall see that it is notinsignificant, but of great magnitude, involving every person who has been born and lived to be of the age of accountability. The humble prophet Isaiah declared that “none calleth for justice,  nor any pleadeth for truth, they trust in vanity, speak lies, conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity”. (Isa 59:4)
 

    The  weeping prophet said, “for we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and ourfathers, from our youth even unto this day and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord”. (Jere.3:25) He said, “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (17:19) Jeremiah says that even in his day, “The land of Judah was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.” (Jere.51:5)

 
    Isaiah again saith to Jerusalem “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel but that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.”(Isa.30:1) Micah, preacher of the poor, describes man in his day: “The Lord hath a controversy with His people, The good man is perished out of the earth, and there is none righteous among men; they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge”. (Micah 7:2,4a)

 
    Zephaniah lists the sins of Jerusalem: Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city. She obeyed not the voice; she received not correction; she trusted not in the

Lord; she drew not near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions; they gnaw not the 

bones. (leave nothing) ‘till the morrow. Her prophets are light and treacherous persons; they have done 

violence to the law. They rose up early and corrupted all their doings. (Zeph.3:1-4,7b)

    The Apostle Paul to the Romans wrote: As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no not one.  (Rom.3:10-12) Again to the Galatians he writes, “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin”. (Gal.3:22 
 

 
    God hates every false way. (Psa. 119:104) He says that sin is abominable and that He hates it. (Jere 44:4; Zech. 8:14) The Jews were told because of their abominations they would be cast down. (Jer.6:15; 7:15) Jeremiah was not even to pray for them.

 
    When sin is committed and not repented of God will not spare those who are guilty. “and mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee: and ye shall know that I am the Lord”. (Ez.7:4) Behold therefore the goodness and the severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee (God’s) goodness: Otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. (Rom. 11:22) O, dear reader, can you not see the distressingly, bitterly, piteously, miserably end to sin? Thanks be to our wonderful God, we are not left here. 

There is a remedy for sin. 

 
    Barclay said,” Sin is what keeps a man from being what he was meant to be and what he was created to be.” Sin affects all parts of one’s body. “Their throat is and open sepulcher; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: their feet are swift to shed blood”. (Rom. 3:13-15)
 

    Sin is like a cancer. It begins very small, undetected to the human eye and maybe even undetected to the one in whom it dwells. When allowed to remain in the body, cancer will weaken and finally bring into captivity every member of that physical body, rendering it powerless and useless. Cancer will have dominion, become the ruling power, and take over that body. It’s vital organs are bound up, unable to function. Eventually that physical body will die.

    Sin is to the soul as cancer is to the body. Sin can go undetected for a time because it is deceitful. (Heb. 3:13; Rom. 7:11) Sin can grow and bring forth tumors or fruits of wickedness. (works of the flesh) Gal. 5:19-21) One can become sin’s servant and finally sin’s slave, being  totally dominated by sin. (Rom.6:12-13, 16-17) When sin is finished, the soul is slain, dead. (Rom. 7:9-11, 3:23)
 

    Sin is pleasurable (Heb 11:25) but that pleasure is not worth what it costs. Sin is deceitful but does not have the power to remain covered up forever. “Be sure your sin will find you out”. (Nu. 32:23) I cannot hide my sin from God. (Psa. 69:5) My way in life will be hard. (Prov. 13:15) I will not find any peace when I lie down. (Isa 57:20, 21; Lam. 1:3) Sin will cause me to labor and have no rest. (Lam 5:5) A sinner is known as a fool by God. (Psa 14:1) He is described as wicked, his latter end is that he will be cast down into destruction. (Psa 73:3, 18) A sinner will not stand in the judgment, nor in the congregation of the righteous, but he shall perish. (Psa 1:5, 6) He will be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power. (11 Thess. 1:9)

    O, dear Reader, if you find yourself described as the above, a sinner, do not delay. Do not put of doing the will of God. Today is the day of salvation. (11 Cor. 6:2) God has said that His Spirit shall not always strive with man. (Gen. 6:3)

 
    God has not left us in sin, but has provided a way to become clean and pure, a way to becoming reconciled to Him. That hope is found in the Word of Truth, the gospel. (Col.1: 5) This gospel if preached and received (obeyed) can save a sinner. This gospel is the good news that Christ, the Lamb of God came into the world to take away the sins of the world. (Jn. 1:29) That same Christ lived and died on the cross of Calvary for our sins, was buried, rose again the third day according to the scriptures. (1 Cor.5:1-4) This Christ was prophesied by Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied that a virgin shall be with child, and shall call His name Emmanuel, which being 

interpreted, God with us. (Isa. 17:14)The express purpose of Deity coming down to dwell among men was to seek and save the lost. (Lk. 19:10) While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us, much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. (Rom. 5:8, 9) Paul the Apostle said to the Ephesians that we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Eph. 1:7) The writer of Revelation said that Jesus Christ loved us and washed (loosed) us from our sins in His own blood. (Rev. 1:5) How shall we appropriate this purificatory agent to our own soul? We must come first believing in Christ (Jn. 8:24; Rom.3:22; Gal. 3:22; Heb. 11:6) and realizing that we are a sinner and a rebel against God. Isaiah said “We have turned everyone to his own way”. (Isa 53:6) So the fundamental thing which we need to know is that self -will and self-pleasing must cease. We must submit ourselves to the will of God. A man said to me one time, “I want to be baptized with no strings attached”. Sinner, we don’t come to God on our terms, but His. We must be converted to Christ and not to a form. This man, I think was converted to the form of doctrine, namely baptism. So we must come humbly repenting. (Acts 3:19; 2:38) Again Isaiah saith, “the lofty looks of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down.”(2:18) Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”. (Matt. 5:3) God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts ye double minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep: let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to heaviness, Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He shall lift you up (exhalt you). (Jas. 4:6-10)

 
    O Sinner, learn humility now lest God will bring you down later. (Prov 6:17) The sacrifices of God are a broken and contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise. (Psa 51:17) Many a person, calling themselves a Christian never got past this point. They went through the form, are walking in a form of works, but in heart they are still rebellious to God, having never submitted themselves to God. Gentle Reader, do not be one of those.

    Therefore, we must come humbly repenting. Jesus said, “I tell nay; but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish”. (Lk 13:3) A sinner having so humbled himself and repented will want to confess Jesus as his Lord as John Baptist did, (Matt 1:29) “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world”. Peter the Apostle made this good confession when he said, “thou art the Christ, the son of the living God”. (Matt 16:16) The Apostle Paul said to the Romans, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is unto salvation. (Rom 10:9, 10) 

Jesus said, “Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my father which is in heaven”. (Matt 10:32)

 
    When a person has come believing repenting and confessing Christ, is he then saved already? Not according to Acts 22:16. Saul who in a penitent state, had been for 3 days fasting and praying (Acts 9) was told, “Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (note: Mark 16:15, 16; Acts 2: 38; Gal 3:27; Col 2:12; Rev 1:5)

 
    What then does baptism in water have to do with removal of sin? Paul in Rom. 6 has an explanation of the effect of baptism on a person’s soul. He begins by writing to Roman brethren who were lacking in their understanding of God’s grace and sin in their lives. He says, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!” He explains that they are dead to sin. How can they live in sin any longer? Then he explains the process of this “death to sin”.

 
    When they were baptized into Christ (where all spiritual blessings are Eph. 1:3) they were baptized into His death. At Christ’s death is where His blood flowed freely. Only the blood can cleanse our sins. (Heb 9:11-14; Rom 5:9) We are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. (Eph. 1:7; Col.1:23, 14; 1 Pet 1:18, 19)When we are “buried” with Him in baptism as the Romans had done, we are buried into Christ. We are raised up (from the water) from the dead by the glory of the father to walk in newness of life. Our old man (man who walks in sin) is crucified. We are no longer a servant to sin. (Acts 22:16) We are saved. (Mark 16:16) This 

is an operation of God, this newness of man, being born again. ( John 3:5) We have the gift of the Holy Spirit. ( Acts 2:38 ) It is not anything that we have earned. It is simply in obedience to that form of doctrine prescribed for us ( Acts 2:38 ; Rom 6:17 ) that we are made free from sin. In the act of baptism is where I have identified with my new master. I have become like Him in that I am trusting His act of dying for me as my own death. I cannot do it for myself . This is why I must see it for what it is , salvation, a free gift, not of works but of grace. ( Rom 3:24 ) This free gift will not negate my obedience to Christ.

    Now that I stand justified, freed from sin, redeemed, washed clean, pure and holy in His sight, I am not the same person that I once was.

    I am dead now, my old self and my life is his in God ( Col 3:3 ) I am alive now unto God. ( Rom 6:13 ) Peter tells me that my adversary the devil walks about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour . ( 1 Pet 5:8 ) He says that I should resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in my brethren that are in the world. But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto eternal glory by Christ Jesus , after that ye have suffered awhile make you perfect , stablish, strengthen and settle you. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. ( 1Pet 5:8-11 ) He said that I should not think it strange concerning the fiery trials 

which is to try me, but rejoice , inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s suffering; that when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad with exceeding joy. ( 1 Pet 4:12-13 )

 
    Paul said that “ we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. he said there would be fiery darts coming at me, but I can stand if I make preparation. (Eph 6:12-18) John the apostle said “ If I walk in the light as He is in the light, I can have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Christ will cleanse me from all sin. ( 1 Jno1:6 ) When I sin if I confess my sin , God is faithful and just to forgive me of my sins and to cleanse me from all unrighteousness. ( 1Jno 1:9 ) 

 

    In my preparation to stand steadfast I will count God’s word most valuable. My delight will be in the law. ( Psa 1:2 ) It is a perfect law of liberty . ( Jas 1:25 ) It will make wise the simple. It is pure. It is clean, enduring forever. It is true and righteous altogether. It is more to be desired than gold, yea , than much fine gold, sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. I am warned and have great reward when I keep the judgments of the Lord. ( Psa 19:7-11 ) I will be like David and “ hide His word in my heart that I might not sin against thee .” ( Psa 119:11 ) I will observe it with my whole heart. ( Psa 119:34b ) I will pray that God will open mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of His law. ( Psa 119:18 ) I will realize that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, therefore I will seek wisdom ( Prov:7;4:5 ) and pray for it. ( Jas 1:5 ) I will recognize that I am sanctified by truth, that God’s word is truth, ( Jn 17:17 ) and that if I continue in Jesus’ word, I will be a disciple indeed. I will know the truth and it will set me free from sin. ( Jn 8:31,32 ) This word is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and the joints and marrow , and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. ( Heb 4:12 ) It will convict me of sin. I will 

realize all scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete thoroughly furnished unto all good works. ( 11 Tim 3: 16 ) Therefore , I will study to show myself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. ( II Tim 2:15 ) I will desire the sincere milk of the word that I may grow thereby. ( 1 Pet 2:2 ) I will not stay in the milk but go on to the strong meat so that my senses may be exercised to discern both good and evil. ( Heb 5:14 ) 

    David, a man after God’s own heart had a wonderful relationship with God. It was intimate. Paul sought to know God in this way. ( Phil 3:10 ) To have this kind of relationship wemust be strong in prayer.

 
    David said “ As for me , I will call upon God ; and the Lord shall save me. Evening, morning and at noon, will I pray , and cry aloud: and He shall hear my voice. ( Psa 55:17 ) Jesus rose up early to pray ( Mark 1:35 ) He is our best example of prayer. The disciples knew that when they said , “ Lord , teach us to pray”. ( Lk 11:1 )

 
    Our prayer must come from a contrite and humble heart ( Psa 51:10,17; Matt 6:5-8 ) I will :

 
When I Stumble

    In this walk as a Christian , I will fail at times. I will look to the hills from whence cometh my help. When I go astray, I know that He will correct me. I must not despise the correction, nor grow weary of it. ( Prov 3:11 ; Heb 13:22 ; Heb 12 :7-11 ) David said , “ before I was afflicted I went astray..........It was good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.” ( Psa 119: 67, 71 )

    I will glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience ; and patience experience; ( approvedness ) and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom 5:3,5 ).

 
    I know that in me ( that is in my flesh ) dwelleth no good thing; for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not . I find then a law that when I would do good evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man ; but I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ( Rom 7:19-25 ) Praise God !! Glory Hallelujah !!! I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So with the mind I myself serve the law of God. ( Rom 7: 25 )

    There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death ( Rom 8:1-2 ) Thanks be to God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ . ( 11 Cor 2:14 ) My outward man is perishing , yet my inward man is being renewed day by day. ( 1 Cor 4:6 )

                                                                                                               Wilma Hendrick